A skeptical blog discussing evolution, aviation, religion, and anything else I feel like.
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Website Update- New Section, Religious Essays

How's that saying go, "Never discuss work, politics, or religion?" Well, I break all three of those rules on this site. Considering the third one of those, since I have recently gone through some changes, and no longer have the same beliefs as what I stated in older essays, I thought it would be most honest for me to discuss my current beliefs. So, if that's the type of thing that interests you, I've added a new collection to my Writings section, Religious Essays. Since it is such a different theme than most of this site, and probably bound to ruffle a few feathers, I've decided that this is the only mention I'll give it here in my "Latest News & Updates" section [the previous sentence applies only to my main site, and the News & Updates section on my home page]. If I do make any changes to it, or add any new essays, it will be noted in the History section at the bottom of that page, and possibly on my blog.

Comments

Some thoughts to your essay. For hundreds of years the Earth was flat /ex cathedra/. Shall I say the Vatican was completely wrong, thus God doesn't exist?
In the nucleus of a cell there is a blueprint that will cause the DNA structure split and reproduce itself. What is the blueprint? The amino acid, or electrons, protons, neutrons in the right combination? If yes, then how it makes itself being a cell? - anybody there who knows? Or just we state this is the way life works (stupid isn't it..)
The numbers and many other information in the Bible just plainly wrong. The conclusion is there is no God? The universe comes from singularity? Really? Just because one cannot give a better explanation?
Being Christian in a best case is a choice and not inheritance. If God will not move your soul/mind you will never get what in Jews 11.1. Science is advancing, corrects mistakes where appropriate. I do same with Bible. In my mind science and Christianity can live together. I also don't agree with those preachers who tells the Bible is infallible from cover to cover. This is just silly statement. I've not known a preacher who took the time to dig into physics and cosmology and archeology. Most of them just plainly ignorant to these, but these doesn't proof the status of God.
Janos from Hungary

For hundreds of years the Earth was flat /ex cathedra/. Shall I say the Vatican was completely wrong, thus God doesn't exist?

What I would take from that is that, contrary to their claims, the pope does not receive his wisdom directly from on high. Therefore, any claims the Catholic church makes are open to investigation. And as you point at, mistakes by any church/individual do not disprove God.

In the nucleus of a cell there is a blueprint that will cause the DNA structure split and reproduce itself...

I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at here, and I don't see what this has to do with whether a god exists. Cells are certainly full of very complex chemistry, but we see them working all the time. Our understanding of that chemistry isn't perfect, but we learn more practically every day. Are you suggesting that God is directly intervening in every single cell? If you do come back and check these comments, I'd be curious if you could expand on this.

The numbers and many other information in the Bible just plainly wrong. The conclusion is there is no God?

Again, this was not my whole argument. This was part of building the case that the Bible wasn't divinely inspired, and I agree that you can certainly continue to be a Christian while rejecting the divinity of the Bible (like I can still consider my history textbooks by and large accurate, even if they were written by humans and contain some mistakes). However, recognizing the Bible as the work of humans was part of the process I went through in leaving Christianity altogether.

The universe comes from singularity? Really? Just because one cannot give a better explanation?

I don't know where the universe came from. My limited understanding of Big Bang Theory is that it explains what happened from that singularity onward, but says nothing about where everything came from before that. Unfortunately, since it was a singularity, it will be very difficult to determine anything about the nature of the universe from before that point in time, possibly impossible. Additionally, the Big Bang did not come about because there was no better explanation, it's based on looking at the condition of the universe now, and extrapolating back in time. Also, I don't follow the logic of saying, we don't understand where the universe came from, therefore the Christian God exists. You could just as easily replace "the Christian God" in that sentence with "the Roman pantheon of Gods" or any other religion that has a creation story. It still doesn't really increase our understanding.

Being Christian in a best case is a choice and not inheritance.

I agree, and it's why I don't push my daughter in any way, religiously. I'll let her decide for herself, but I want to be sure it actually is her choice, and not indoctrination. However, in most cases religion is inherited, and it's easy to see why. If you truly believe that your child's immortal soul is at stake, it's a no-brainer to teach them what you think will save their soul.

If God will not move your soul/mind you will never get what in Jews 11.1.

I used to think I actually did feel God's presence. But when I stopped to ask myself, how could I be so sure I was feeling God's presence, when I thought somany,others (one more example - read about Prophet Fred), who also firmly believed they were feeling a god's or a spirit's presence, were wrong. (And don't forget about people convinced they're witnessing the new Buddha.) That's why I decided that a warm fuzzy feeling wasn't enough to justify belief in any particular religion.

Science is advancing, corrects mistakes where appropriate. I do same with Bible...

I wish more people practiced their religion that way. In this regard, I think the journey is as important as the destination. In other words, I'd be much more comfortable associating with a Christian (or Hindu or Muslim...) who had thought deeply and honestly about their beliefs, and had a good justification for those beliefs, than I would be with another non-believer, who was a non-believer simply out of apathy. People who don't think for themselves, no matter what religion they follow or lack thereof, are more likely to just follow the crowd and go along with whatever the mob says.